Conveyer



March 12, 1940. CQTTENGIM 2,193,530 7 CONVEYER Filed Sept. 28, 1938Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES CONVEYER Karl M. Cottengim,Winchester, Ky., assignor of twenty-five per cent to Daniel Boone Smith,

Harlan, Ky.

Application September 28, 1938, Serial No. 232,210

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to conveyers for conducting materialthrough a trough or the like, and more especially to improved means forreducing to a minimum the frictional resistance oiferecl to the flightsof the conveyer as they are propelled through the trough.

Heretofore, it has been customary to provide conveyers with spacedflights which engage the wall of the trough and scrape against the sameduring the operation of the conveyer. The constant engagement of theflights with the trough not only causes excessive wear which lessens thelife and durability of these paits, but also increasesthe power requiredto operate the conveyer.

Accordingly, an important object of the'present invention is to providesimple, eificient and economical means for reducing to a minimum, thefrictional resistance imparted to the flights of the conveyer as theypass through the trough,

525 a conveyer having spaced flights or buttons formed with radiallydisposed slots in each of which is revo-lubly mounted an anti-frictionroller which extends outwardly beyond theperimeter of the flight so. asto engage the inner wall of the trough, and thus provide revoluble meansto reduce the frictional resistance to the flights with the troughduring the operation of the con veyer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying claims and drawing.

Referring to the drawing in which is shown a preferred embodiment of theinvention:

Figure l is a fragmentary plan view of 'my improved conveyer associatedwith a trough.

Figure 2 isan enlarged section view taken substantially along the line2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line 3-3 ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is an exploded detailed view showing the means for detachablyconnecting the rollers to the flights.

Referring to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts inthe several views, the conveyer preferably includes a flexible cable II)which may be formed of strands of wire or rope and to which is fastenedat spaced intervals, the

flights or buttons I! for feeding loose material tatably secure theflights to the cable II). Each of the flights ll when the sections are massembled, constitutes a medially disposed disc or plate :9 arranged to.engage the material to move the samethrough the trough l2. Each disc hasuniformly spaced radial slots or recesses 20 extending to the peripherythereof. The opposed side walls of each of the slots 20 preferably aregrooved as at 2| (Fig. 4) slidably to receive the removable bearingblocks 22 which have transverse openings 23 arranged to register witheach other when the blocks are properly posi- 5 tioned within theircomplementary slots. The inner end of each block has a reduced tongue ortenon 24 arranged snugly to flt into an aligned opening or mortise 25 inthe disc l9 (Fig. 3). The blocks 22 are also provided with openings 2625 which, when the parts are set up, register with openings 21 in thedisc 59 so as to receive removable pins 28 for releasably maintainingthe blocks in position within the slots 2!. An anti-friction roller 29is keyed or otherwise non-rotatably secured to a shaft 30, and the'shaftis journalled in the walls of the openings 23 of the blocks 22, so thatwhen the parts are assembled, the periphery of the rollers extendsslightly beyond the circumference of the disc to engage the trough l2(Fig. 2). The sections of the flight H are shown of substantiallysemi-circular shape so that when clamped to the cable, they constitutethe disc 19, g and conform to the curvature of the trough l2. do It willbe manifest that the shape of the disc 19, as well as the trough 12 maybe varied in accordance with the particular use to which the conveyer isto be applied. One of the sections of the flight such as M, hasextending axially there- 45 i of, an enlarged groove 3! of such size anddepth as to receive a major portion of the cable Ill (Fig. 2), the othersection l3 has a complementary smaller groove 32 shaped to provide thespaced arms or lugs 33 which extend into the 60 groove 3| when the partsare set up, in order p to engage the adjacent surface of the cable andthus firmly and non-rotatably maintain the flight in a fixed position.

The ends of each flight may be provided with I flanges or collars 34 ofany suitable shape and which, for the purpose of illustration, are shownof rectangular configuration, so as to constitute means adapted to beengaged by the teeth of a driving sprocket wheel or the like (not shown)to propel the flights and their associated parts through the trough forthe purpose of transferring the material from one point to another.

During the operation of the conveyer, the rollem 29 are positioned toengage the adjacent inner wall of the trough l2, thus reducing to aminimum the frictional resistance offered to the passage of the flightsthrough the trough. In other words, instead of the flights directlyengaging or scraping along the trough, as heretofore has been thepractice, the rollers act to provide anti-friction means which reducesto a minimum the frictional resistance to the movement of the flightsthrough the trough. Moreover, the engagement of the anti-frictionrollers 29 with the adjacent surface of the trough make it possible forthe flights to roll or ride over any projections, ridges or unevensurfaces formed in the trough which not infrequently develop by reasonof the accumulation of material along the trough or when the overlappedsections of the trough become loose or raised.

In constructions in which the flights constantly engage the trough andare not provided with circumferentially arranged friction reducing meanssuch as embodied in, the present invention, if the overlapped sectionsof the trough become loose so as to be raised relative to adjacentsections and the conveyer is placed in motion, the flights are eitherbroken or the loose sections of the trough are torn from the remainingportions thereof, thus necessitating the replacement of the broken partsat considerable expense of time and labor. Moreover, conveyers of thistype are usually operated by electrical power. Consequently, it will beseen that the greater resistance to the passage of the flights throughthe conveyer, requires a corresponding increase in the consumption ofpow-er or energy required to propel the conveyer. Conversely, byreducing the power to drive the conveyer by providing means, such as therollers 28 which eliminate practically of the frictional resistance,less driving power is needed and, at the same time, means are alsoprovided to insure faster operation and smoother action of the conveyer.It will be noted that the rollers are revolubly mounted in the flights,so as to, be positioned substantially at right angles to the discs 55.

The flights or buttons H do not turn on the cable 10. However, duringthe travel of the conveyer through its circuit, the cable and theflights revolve slowly and will probably make two complete revolutionsin one circuit of the distance they travel. As the rollers arecircumferentially and uniformly spaced all the way around each disc,they constitute means which engage the bottom of the trough to reducethe frictional resistance to the flights, irrespective of the stage orrotary position of the individual flights relative to the trough. Therollers may be readily withdrawn from the slots in which they aremounted, upon withdrawal of the retaining pins 28 and the removableblocks 22 for the purpose of renewal or for interchanging the rollersrelative to one another.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown anddescribed is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment, and thatsuch changes may be made as fall within the purview of one skilled inthe art without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a trough, a conveyer for conducting loosematerial through the trough, said conveyer including a flexible member,spaced flights secured to said member, each of said flights havingspaced radially disposed slots, spaced bearings removably mounted ineach of said slots, an anti-friction roller journalled in said bearings,said roller extending beyond the perimiter of the flight to engage theinner wall of the trough to provide means for reducing the frictionalresistance to the flights as the conveyer passes through the trough, andmeans for retaining the bearings and the rollers in their respectiveslots.

2. In combination with a trough, a conveyer for conducting loosematerial through the trough, said conveyer including a flexible member,spaced flights, means for non-rotatably securing the flights to saidmember, each of said flights having spaced radially disposed slots, apair of blocks slidably mounted in the opposite side walls of each ofsaid slots, a roller journalled in each pair of blocks, said rollerextending outwardly from the periphery of the flight to engage the innerwall of the trough for reducing the frictional resistance to the flightsduring the movement of the conveyer through the trough, and removablemeans extending through the flight and the blocks to retain the blocksand rollers in their slots.

3. In combination with a trough, a conveyer for conducting loosematerial through the trough, said conveyer including a flexible member,spaced flights, each of said flights comprising two sections havingopposed complementary base members, one of said members having anaxially disposed groove arranged to receive the cable and the other ofsaid members having a complementary curved portion with projectionsextending into the groove to engage the cable when the parts are set up,means for securing the sections together, each of said flights havingspaced radially disposed slots, blocks removably mounted in the opposedside walls of each of said slots, and a roller journalled in the blocksof each of said slots and extending outwardly from the periphery of theflights to engage the inner wall of the trough for reducing thefrictional resistance to the flights when passing through the trough.

4. A conveyer flight of the class described in- I cluding a disc havingspaced radially disposed slots in the periphery thereof, blocks slidablymounted in the opposed side walls of each of said slots, a rollerrevolubly mounted in the blocks of each of said slots, and means forretaining the blocks and rollers in their respective slots.

KARL M. COTTENGIM.

